"Sitting on the roof of the White House in Washington, DC, late at night with a beer in one hand and a fat Austin Torpedo in the other. My companion on the roof was pointing out to me the sights and layout of how the streets run in Washington… I let the weed cover me with a pleasing cloud… I guess the roof of the White House is the safest place to smoke dope."

On Jimmy Kimmel Live on Mar. 20, Kimmel queried Nelson: "There's a rumor that you once smoked pot on the roof of the White House."

Nelson: "I've heard that."

Kimmel: "Did that happen?"

Nelson: "I hear that once you get up there all the streets are coming at you from different directions…"

Nelson: "I would think so. If it ever happened, I definitely would have to calm down."

Kimmel: "You were friendly with President Carter."

Nelson: "Jimmy Carter is a close friend… They're good people."

Kimmel: "Did they know you were smoking pot allegedly on the roof of the White House?"

Nelson: "I forgot tot tell them."

According to Joe Nick Patoski, author of Willie Nelson: An Epic Life, the White House pot-smoking episode took place in September of 1978. He writes:

"Willie played a show on the White House lawn for NASCAR, singing a duet with First Lady Rosalyn Carter. That night, before retiring to the Lincoln Bedroom… he climbed on the roof of the White House and smoked a joint with one of the Carter boys."

In his new book, It's a Long Story: My Life, " Nelson says Carter "pulled out a joint" and stated, "Think it's time to burn one, Willie, if you don't object." Nelson writes that he "accepted the offer. The smoke took the edge off my excitement…

'There I was smoking weed and watching the city lights flicker like fireflies.'